Men in the Oscar and Delta compounds in Manus gathered and chanted for their freedom while those in the Mike and Foxtrot compounds put up banners that read “Shut down Manus Hell”.
Other banners asked “Where is sanctity of Law, Stop playing deaths. Every death in PNG and Nauru is blood on your hands.”
While they report authorities at the centre have not attempted to stop the protest, security and police have not either as the numbers continue to grow.
Over the weekend, about 70 men protested in the rain in Manus with banners and chants. This is expected to continue today and this week.
“It’s a peaceful protest,” Benham Satah tells Loop PNG from Manus.
He said they are protesting to be sent back to Australia and not be let free to go out to the communities in Manus or PNG.
“If we wanted to go out of Lombrum, we would have put a request for it. In fact many of us don’t feel safe to go out,” he said.
And they are adamant they want Australian authorities to respond to their demand to be taken back to Australia.
“We haven’t committed any crime in your country, we are taken here by force,” Satah added.
Detainees in Nauru including women and children are also doing the same in their respective compounds.
